Mojo verde

Overview

Mojo verde is the green sauce of the Canary Islands. It is made the way mojo rojo is made, by pounding garlic, chilli and cumin to a paste and then loosening it with vinegar and oil, but the colour and flavour come from fresh herbs. Its character is fresh and green rather than smoky or sweet, and the sauce is sharp from the vinegar and grassy from the herb.

The sources offer two herb versions: coriander, called mojo de cilantro, and parsley, called mojo de perejil. Several sources also describe green mojo as traditionally served with fish, which separates it from the red sauce's pairing with meat.

Name and origin

The name mojo is traced by most sources to the Portuguese molho, meaning sauce. The green sauce is also compared with the Mediterranean salsa verde. Gran Canaria Info describes it as clearly a variant of that sauce, and calls the green Canarian mojo a development from a Near Eastern original that the author thinks reached Europe with Roman legionaries. The cited article gives no date and no source for this, so it is recorded as a claim.

Documented Canarian use of the sauce is firmer than its beginnings. The sources agree that it is a local preparation, but none dates the first green mojo.

Ingredients and their roles

Coriander or parsley supplies the colour and the fresh green flavour. Coriander gives the sauce its most recognisable note; parsley gives a milder version. Cumin supplies the earthy base that both green and red mojo share. Garlic and chilli give pungency, and the cited recipe uses green chillies where the red sauce uses red ones.

Vinegar is the sharp element. The cited recipe uses red wine vinegar, and the Gran Canaria red mojo recipe on the same site uses the same vinegar. Olive oil binds the paste.

Method

The method is entirely in a mortar. Cumin and coarse salt are ground first, because the salt helps break the seeds down into a fine powder. The chopped garlic and chillies follow and are pounded to a fine paste. The herbs are added last and pounded until they are reduced to a paste,. Vinegar and oil are stirred in at the end rather than pounded, so the sauce stays bright and loose.

Serving

Mojo verde is traditionally served with fish, according to the Gran Canaria source, and it is served with the same salt-boiled potatoes, papas arrugadas, as the red sauce. The Wikipedia entry notes that the red and green sauces can be used interchangeably with the potatoes. The green sauce is spooned over the potatoes and eaten with the skins on.

Storage and safety

The sources give no shelf life for mojo verde. The Wikipedia entry says the herb versions contain water, should be refrigerated and should be used within two days, but marks that statement as needing a citation. Garlic and herbs in oil are a recognised botulism concern when they are left warm or at room temperature, and the sources here establish no safe holding time.

Unknowns

No dated source for the green sauce, no quantified yield for the cited recipe, and no verified keeping time were found. A Canarian food-history source on the green sauce and a tested storage study would be the next research steps.